There is many things to praise in the final episode of the season, but there is equal number of things that make Journey' s End the weakest of the three episode arc.
First I must comment on the TARDIS pulling the Earth back to its orbit. Beyond it being just illogical, its just plain dumb and takes you "out of the story" so to speak. I mean, this past week, Charlie Jane Anders of the science fiction blog io9, called Davies "the gay Michael Bay." And lives up to that motto after the whole tow truck pulling of the planet.
I was really anxious to see this episode after last week's outta nowhere cliffhanger, but I felt cheated with this finale, if only because the entire episode appeared to be written by a fanboy. It's fanfic to the max, and that's its problem. I give RTD props, as he brought back an aging show in need of fresh blood and a new direction. The first season is perhaps the best, if only because it attempted to break out its tired formula that doomed it by the late 1980's.
But over four years, the show has quickly fallen back into the same tracks that John Nathan Turner made with 6th and 7th Doctor's.
But the show was crammed with too much companion angst and too much Davros going on and on about destroying the universe -a distracting thing, despite the actors performance. And while I love continuity, RTD just seemed to go over board with it in this episode. Nothing brings a action sequence to a halt more than pointing out that Gwen Cooper from Torchwood resembles a maid from season one's The Unquiet Dead (of course, they were played by the same actress).
The best part of the episode was Catherine Tate, who for my money, became the best companion in its four year revival. She resembles Sarah Jane in many ways, which is logical because of RTD's love for Elizabeth Sladen's portrayal of Sarah (who is the second best thing about this episode). So I was disappointed at the way she was shoved out of the series. Tate seemed to be having the time of her life as the hybred human/Time Lady. But like Rose from her final scenes in season one's The Parting of the Ways, Donna could not "handle" being the hybred. I was disappointed that RTD went back to the well for this one. Donna deserved to stay, but if she had to go, then in a much better way than she did. It was too Star Trek Vulcan like the way the story was written.
Plus, I hated being manipulated like this. We were told a companion dies, and just like Doomsday, it happens only metaphorically. It's suppose to be a clever McGuffin, only it turns out to be a rehash of a show done two years ago.
One last thing, while I liked the idea that it took "three" Doctors to solve the problem, the fact that the second 10th Doctor must "pay" for the genocide of the Daleks is plainly ridiculous. The Doctor -the real one - has let aliens die before, and seemed to carry no guilt. Why second 10th Doctor must pay for destroying the Dalek menace once and for all just makes no sense. Of course, it sets up the even more ridiculous ending: Rose living with the second 10th Doctor that she loves. Everyone must have a happy ending, I guess.
I suppose with Doctor Who taking 2009 off (beyond a handful of specials so series star David Tennant can go off and play Hamlet), it could be a good thing. With Steven Moffat taking over from RTD, they may need a year just to regroup and see where they went wrong after season one. I like Tennant a lot, and hope he stays beyond the 4 specials in 2009. When given a good script, like Moffat's Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead from this year and Paul Cornell's Human Nature/Family of Blood from last year, David Tennant really shines. It's like he knows these are good scripts, unlike some of RTD's by-the-book episodes.
First I must comment on the TARDIS pulling the Earth back to its orbit. Beyond it being just illogical, its just plain dumb and takes you "out of the story" so to speak. I mean, this past week, Charlie Jane Anders of the science fiction blog io9, called Davies "the gay Michael Bay." And lives up to that motto after the whole tow truck pulling of the planet.
I was really anxious to see this episode after last week's outta nowhere cliffhanger, but I felt cheated with this finale, if only because the entire episode appeared to be written by a fanboy. It's fanfic to the max, and that's its problem. I give RTD props, as he brought back an aging show in need of fresh blood and a new direction. The first season is perhaps the best, if only because it attempted to break out its tired formula that doomed it by the late 1980's.
But over four years, the show has quickly fallen back into the same tracks that John Nathan Turner made with 6th and 7th Doctor's.
But the show was crammed with too much companion angst and too much Davros going on and on about destroying the universe -a distracting thing, despite the actors performance. And while I love continuity, RTD just seemed to go over board with it in this episode. Nothing brings a action sequence to a halt more than pointing out that Gwen Cooper from Torchwood resembles a maid from season one's The Unquiet Dead (of course, they were played by the same actress).
The best part of the episode was Catherine Tate, who for my money, became the best companion in its four year revival. She resembles Sarah Jane in many ways, which is logical because of RTD's love for Elizabeth Sladen's portrayal of Sarah (who is the second best thing about this episode). So I was disappointed at the way she was shoved out of the series. Tate seemed to be having the time of her life as the hybred human/Time Lady. But like Rose from her final scenes in season one's The Parting of the Ways, Donna could not "handle" being the hybred. I was disappointed that RTD went back to the well for this one. Donna deserved to stay, but if she had to go, then in a much better way than she did. It was too Star Trek Vulcan like the way the story was written.
Plus, I hated being manipulated like this. We were told a companion dies, and just like Doomsday, it happens only metaphorically. It's suppose to be a clever McGuffin, only it turns out to be a rehash of a show done two years ago.
One last thing, while I liked the idea that it took "three" Doctors to solve the problem, the fact that the second 10th Doctor must "pay" for the genocide of the Daleks is plainly ridiculous. The Doctor -the real one - has let aliens die before, and seemed to carry no guilt. Why second 10th Doctor must pay for destroying the Dalek menace once and for all just makes no sense. Of course, it sets up the even more ridiculous ending: Rose living with the second 10th Doctor that she loves. Everyone must have a happy ending, I guess.
I suppose with Doctor Who taking 2009 off (beyond a handful of specials so series star David Tennant can go off and play Hamlet), it could be a good thing. With Steven Moffat taking over from RTD, they may need a year just to regroup and see where they went wrong after season one. I like Tennant a lot, and hope he stays beyond the 4 specials in 2009. When given a good script, like Moffat's Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead from this year and Paul Cornell's Human Nature/Family of Blood from last year, David Tennant really shines. It's like he knows these are good scripts, unlike some of RTD's by-the-book episodes.
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